level up

verb

leveled up or levelled up; leveling up or levelling up; levels up

transitive + intransitive

: to advance or improve (oneself, someone else, or something) in or as if in a game

Collect cards and magic potions, then level up your favourite dragons to increase their abilities.

—Animation Xpress

Staying competitive comes down to many factors, but one that's often overlooked, in my opinion, is the ongoing need to level up your marketing team.

—Sujan Patel

That [Kevin] Reilly has leveled up the brands of both networks is clear in their programming selections.

—Broadcasting and Cable

We provide nurses with the tools they need to level up their careers and their profession …

—News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Leveling up and finding new weapons, armor, or items give you plenty of incentive to keep slashing and button mashing away.

—Dan Hsu

Companies coax helpers to participate by offering points for useful answers, connecting total points to specific achievement levels, and encouraging users to level up, for even greater prestige.

—Paul McFedries

Examples of level up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Here’s how leaders can level up their own knowledge and create a more financially confident team in the process: Start With Self-Awareness Before guiding others, leaders must assess their own financial understanding. —Cheryl Robinson, Forbes.com, 18 Apr. 2025

Robinson hasn’t seen the new-look Pistons, either — not with their reshaped rotation and a surging young star who’s leveled up since the teams last met at full strength. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 17 Apr. 2025

Your body care routine just leveled up—thank us later! —Tira Urquhart, Essence, 15 Apr. 2025

Editors’ Picks 4 Ways to Stop Stressing About Your Schedule How an American Sign Language Artist Spends Their Sundays Learn how to level up your Wordle solve. —New York Times Games, New York Times, 14 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for level up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup